Related papers: Bouncing Universes in String-inspired Gravity
Aspects of the full theory of loop quantum gravity can be studied in a simpler context by reducing to symmetric models like cosmological ones. This leads to several applications where loop effects play a significant role when one is…
We perform a detailed dynamical analysis of various cosmological scenarios in extended (varying-mass) nonlinear massive gravity. Due to the enhanced freedom in choosing the involved free functions, this cosmological paradigm allows for a…
In Chapter 1 I present the current picture of the universe and briefly review the cosmological constant problem and some of the theories proposed to solve it. The following Chapters essentially contain the published papers with some…
I present two examples in which the curvature singularity of a radiation-dominated Universe is regularized by (a) the repulsive effects of spin interactions, and (b) the repulsive effects arising from a breaking of the local gravitational…
The objective of this thesis is to present a viable extension of general relativity free from cosmological singularities. A viable cosmology, in this sense, is one that is free from ghosts, tachyons or exotic matter, while staying true to…
I discuss cosmological models either derived from, or inspired by, string theory or M-theory. In particular I discuss solutions in the low-energy effective theory and the role of the dilaton, moduli and antisymmetric form fields in the…
We introduce new techniques that can preserve unitarity of the system including ghost particles. Negative norms of the particles can be involved in zero-norm states by constraints of the physical space. These are useful to apply the…
The observational evidence for the existence of a non-zero cosmological constant is getting stronger. It is therefore timely to address the question of its eventual effect on the dynamics of galaxies, clusters and larger structures in the…
A bouncing scenario of a flat homogeneous and isotropic universe is explored by using the reconstruction technique for the power-law parametrization of the Hubble parameter in a modified gravity theory with higher-order curvature and trace…
Several examples are known where quantum gravity effects resolve the classical big bang singularity by a bounce. The most detailed analysis has probably occurred for loop quantum cosmology of isotropic models sourced by a free, massless…
Massive gravity is a modified theory of general relativity. In this paper, we study, using a method in which the scale factor changes as a particle in a "potential", all possible cosmic evolutions in a ghost-free massive gravity. We find…
It is pointed out that string-loop effects may generate matter couplings for the dilaton allowing this scalar partner of the tensorial graviton to stay massless while contributing to macroscopic gravity in a way naturally compatible with…
We consider some nonlinear effects of gravity in cosmology. Possible physically interesting consequences include: non-requirement of dark matter and dark energy, asymmetric gravitational matter-creation, emergent homogeneity/isotropy &…
We investigate the cosmological behavior in a universe governed by time asymmetric extensions of general relativity, which is a novel modified gravity based on the addition of new, time-asymmetric, terms on the Hamiltonian framework, in a…
It is shown that Born-Infeld gravity --a high energy deformation of Einstein gravity-- removes the singularities of a cosmic string. The respective vacuum solution results to be free of conical singularity and closed timelike curves. The…
We explore the kinematical effect of having extra dimensions on the gravity wave emission from cosmic strings. Additional dimensions both round off cusps, and reduce the probability of their formation. We recompute the gravity wave burst,…
Recent observations of high-redshift supernovae seem to suggest that the global geometry of the Universe may be affected by a `cosmological constant', which acts to accelerate the expansion rate with time. But these data by themselves still…
A non-singular bouncing cosmology is generically obtained in loop quantum cosmology due to non-perturbative quantum gravity effects. A similar picture can be achieved in standard general relativity in the presence of a scalar field with a…
In this paper we investigate the cosmological effects of modified gravity with string curvature corrections added to Einstein-Hilbert action in the presence of a dynamically evolving scalar field coupled to Riemann invariants. The scenario…
Setting aside anthropic arguments, there is no reason why the universe should initially favour a net expanding phase rather than one experiencing a net contraction. However, a collapsing universe containing "normal" matter will end at a…